Akasha 4 - Earth (2 page)

In a world with only intermittent
power, traditional packaged goods – including candy – were scarce.
Honeysuckle had long become a treat of choice.

"Let's meet back here an hour after
dawn tomorrow," Alex said.

Susan stuck out her lip.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Ok, two hours
after dawn. Put that lip back in before I bite it."

Susan smiled, raising one eyebrow.
"Bite me and I'll bite you back." She moved a step closer to
him.

"Is that a promise?" he asked, closing
the distance between them.

I turned my back just in time to hear
kissing sounds. The open romance between Alex and Susan was a long
time coming, and I was happy for both of them, but with every
passing day it made me long for Micah more and more. He'd been
missing since a few weeks before Daybreak.

The kissing noises were still coming.
I sighed and squatted down by Bee. "It's rude to stare,
sweetie."

The few honeysuckle that remained were
forgotten. She shifted her gaze to me, stuck out her lips and said,
"Kiss, kiss!"

I laughed and obliged, then gathered
her in my arms. "You're going to stay with Aunt Susan tonight. Be
good, okay?"

"Otay!"

I kissed her again.

"Enough with the smooching you two,"
Susan interrupted. "We're going to be late for girls' night
out."

"More like girls' night in," I said,
passing Bee over. "Make sure she gets a bath – and check her for
ticks." I dug in my backpack for the only bar of soap we
had.

"We'll do the usual pampering
session," Susan promised, taking the bar.

"Bye, Bee," I said.

Bee waved, and I watched them walk
away as she fiddled with the soap.

"She'll be fine, Mama," Alex said,
slinging his arm over my shoulder.

"I know. I just wish…" I trailed off.
Alex didn't need to hear all about how Micah was missing out on
Bee, again.

"You wish what?" he asked.

I leaned into him, nose first, and
sniffed. "I wish we had another bar of soap."

Chapter
2

Wondrous Qualities

After scouting out each entrance, Alex
and I picked the two that looked the most used. Parting ways, I
traded the last of the honeysuckle for one of his apples, and
headed back to the north entrance. It was uphill, but I told myself
it would be a few degrees cooler than the south entrance, which was
where Alex was headed.

I made my way to the top of a ridge
that had just enough shrubbery to conceal me. After inspecting the
area for thorns and poison ivy, I chose a bush and rolled out a
blanket underneath. I laid on the ground, belly down, with the
binoculars glued to my eyes for the next half hour. Absolutely no
movement as far as I could see.

When my stomach started to grumble, I
pulled out the apple and bit into it. turned on my back as I
chewed. The stars were bright and numerous, especially with no more
light pollution. Directly after the electro-magnetic pulse, or
Daybreak, as the general population had named it, power for most of
the United States had gone out. A few months later, we heard rumors
of large cities back on the grid, only to be attacked and shut down
again by roaming militias claiming to work for One Less. The
National Guard wasn't very effective in thwarting the attacks. In
fact, as time went on, there seemed to be fewer and fewer military
personnel. Hell, some of them were probably joining One
Less.

Eventually, power was deemed a
dangerous magnet for One Less, so people stopped pursuing it. It
wasn't until we hit Washington, D.C. that we learned of EMPs going
off in other major countries around the world. Before that, I had
half expected to see Chinese troops marching through the country,
but it appeared most countries gotten hit even worse than ours. We
had Akasha to somewhat contain our blast. Others had no such
luck.

I turned the half-eaten apple over in
my hand. Moonlight glinted off the dull red skin, reminding me of
shiny apples in a supermarket. There were no more shiny apples. I
looked at my watch; ten p.m. There had been plenty of watch
batteries left over in abandoned stores, though no double A's for
our handheld radios.

I sighed. Lots of time
before I would be reunited with Susan, Alex, and Bee. I took
another bite, hitting the core. I dug out the seeds and placed them
in my pocket. Seeds made the 'rattle' in a few of Bee's homemade
toys. Micah was right.
Wondrous
qualities
was how he had described
apples.

Or was that me, being
sarcastic?

It felt like so long ago, memories
were beginning to blend together. I half-considered reaching out
for Micah through our telepathic connection. It was something I had
practiced consistently right after Daybreak, until it led a platoon
of One Less directly to us. Somehow, they’d figured out how to tap
in.

The resulting skirmish separated me
from Bee for a week. It was the absolute worst week of my life.
Alex had her the whole time, but I had all her cloth diapers and
prepared food. When we finally reunited, Bee was practically
potty-trained, and covered head to toe in berry juice.

It took another two days to clean her.
Every time I griped about it, Alex would tell me how that berry
bush saved their lives. Every time Bee announced she had to use the
bathroom, I caught a glimpse of a prideful smile on Alex's face. It
was easy to potty train in the middle of the woods where there were
no actual potties around to use.

Even still, the three of us always
took care to divide Bee's supplies evenly among us. I reached
inside my backpack, rummaging around for food. Nothing. I laid back
down with a huff. Susan would probably be able to stock up. Bee's
dimples led to a lot of much-needed acquisitions, even in today's
world, where it was every man, woman, and child for
themselves.

My thoughts drifted back to Micah,
wondering if he was underground, possibly right beneath me. I
thought back to all the clues that had led us here, most of them
gathered while we were in D.C. Our former senate contact told us
this was where the president and his entourage had retreated just
before the EMP. Since Micah's trail led directly to the White
House, hunting down the president was the next step.

So there I lay, underneath a bush by
myself, setting my sights on the President of the United States
inside a nuclear-protected facility, all because of Micah. I rolled
back over, looking through the binoculars again. I was going to
have rings around my eyes come morning, not to mention a dozen
ticks.

Another low growl, and I silently
wished I had another apple to settle my stomach. But the rumbling
didn't stop. It grew until even the leaves on the bush above me
shook with vibration.

I jumped to my feet. My hair tangled
in the bush. "Dang foliage!"

The blast separated me from the bush,
as well as some of my hair, throwing me back into the trees. I got
to my feet, slower this time, ears ringing. The earth was on fire.
The entire hillside danced before my eyes, consumed in flame. A
large gaping hole was in the middle of it all. Another blast,
further from me but closer to Alex shook the ground again. There
was no need to break in; something else was breaking
out.

Chapter
3

Dancing Flames

I scrambled back to my bush, rolled up
the blanket, and stuffed it in my bag. I opted for the shorter,
steeper route down, rather than using the trail I took up. Rocks
slid out from the soles of my boots, and my butt hit the ground,
hard. I continued to slide. Shrubs hit me as I passed but did
little to slow my descent. In fact, I tried my hardest to avoid the
plant life. I'd rather break a limb than get another bout of poison
ivy.

The dancing flames grew as I raced
closer to them. Dust and rocks churned up in my path. Just after I
began a tumbling routine, flipping head over heels, I came to an
abrupt stop.

I groaned, "Not cool," and removed an
especially sharp stick from underneath me. Another earth-shattering
blast got me on my feet. I picked up my backpack – again – and ran
straight into the flames.

Dizzy from the fall, I had a hard time
staying upright. In moving forward my options quickly became
limited, and the blaze determined my path for me. I fought down the
instinct to call out for Micah or to use any of my powers. I didn't
want to draw any attention; Greenbrier was beginning to look more
and more like a trap.

Heat licked at my face and hands,
threatening to singe my bared skin. I approached the area of the
first explosion. A giant hole scarred the earth. Trees and shrubs
around the hole was already charred and smoking; the fire moving on
to consume more. I looked back at the hole. One hand, then another,
emerged. My heart raced. A man in a suit pulled himself up. His
facial features gleamed by the light of the raging fire. I did not
recognize him.

I backed away until I bumped into
another body. I turned, sweeping my leg wide and catching the
person behind his knees. His body hit the ground. This one I did
recognize.

I dug my knee into his throat, pinning
the rest of his upper body down with my other leg. "Where’s
Micah?!"

He bucked, but was a relatively small
man. There wasn't much to him, as far as muscle went. I barely
shifted.

I pressed further. "Where. Is. Micah?"
I asked again, through gritted teeth.

Fast-moving footsteps came up on my
right, and I didn't have time to respond. The blunt force to my
midsection stole my breath. I landed on my back; my head bouncing
off the hard ground. Stars above me swayed with my vision. I turned
to the side to see my backpack laying several feet away. The damn
thing was having trouble staying on my back.

The man in a suit came into view,
along with another. They hauled me to my feet.

I held my sides, recovering my breath,
eying the men as I did so. Pressed suits and shiny shoes. They
looked far too good to have been tromping around in the wild.
"Men's Wearhouse is still in business, I see."

The small man, the one I’d leveled,
laughed. "You must be Kaitlyn."

I nodded my head down, once. "Mr.
President."

Chapter
4

The List

Shawn stood in the brackish water of
the Great Salt Lake, looking down. His reflection was eerily still.
There were no waves, no plants, and no playful fish. Practically
the only life in the salty water was brine shrimp.

Shawn looked beyond the lake at the
terrain, licking his cracked lips. Everything was so dry here. His
throat had been parched ever since they crossed the Wasatch Range
several months ago. He turned to his right, scanning the extension
of the Rocky Mountains. They were hazy. "Why the heck did the
Mormons stop here?"

"Sir?" asked Shawn's first in command,
David, startled from his bookkeeping.

"Never mind," Shawn mumbled, returning
the few feet to the shore. "Did you rotate the perimeter sentry
groups?"

"Yes. Replacements were sent out this
morning, but it usually takes a full day to complete the rotation.
We should see the last group coming in around sunset." David
snapped his ledger shut and followed Shawn. "Where do you want
them?"

Shawn stopped, bent down and unrolled
his pants. "Give them two days of rest, then put them on supply
duty. We'll run out of batteries by the end of the month. I know
these Mormons stockpile like the world is about to end."

"It kind of already did," David
mumbled.

Shawn arched his eyebrow at
him.

"I mean…yes, sir." David reopened the
book and scribbled a note.

"Don't call me sir." Shawn resumed
walking, making quick work of the sandy dunes.

"Yes, S— Shawn." David's feet kept
sinking in, making it hard to keep up with Shawn.

"And find me some damn
chapstick."

David wrote another note. "I'll check
with supply, sir."

Shawn stopped, and was about to turn
around when one of their own came riding down the road on his
bicycle, waving an arm. "They're back! The mission to Easter Island
– a success!"

Shawn raised his eyebrows in surprise.
After more than a year, he had written off the mission. Shawn and
David collected their own bikes, spray painted black, as were all
the bikes with One Less, and continued on to
headquarters.

"I wish we had horses," David huffed
alongside Shawn. He had to stand, putting more force on the pedals
in order to keep pace with Shawn on the uphill.

"We did," Shawn replied. "They got
eaten."

They soon reached their camp on
Antelope Island, in the middle of the Great Salt Lake, where they
had set up after the show down at Mammoth Cave. Here, Shawn could
run his business in relative peace while still being close enough
to Salt Lake City to procure any supplies they needed.